Building



Dec. 16, 1930.

A. F. BEMls 1,785,067

BUILDING Filed Dec. 2' 1925 5 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 16, 1930. A. F. BEMls 1,785,067

BUILDING Filed Dec. 2, 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 'E Dec. 16, 1930.

A', F, BEMIS BUILDING Filed Dec:V 2l 1925 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 iii? i Patented Dec. 16, 1930 UNITED" STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT r. BEMIS, or NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR To BEMIS INDUSTRIES,

INC., OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSTTS, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE BUILDING Application' med December Y `This invention relates to a method of building construction characterized more particu? larly by theuse of standardized units which may be preformed and then assembled in situ. Units of the type disclosed'inthis application may be produced of a. wide variety of materials in accordance with individual requirements and lwith the different local sources of supply in Vdifferent vicinities.

They may readily, for example, be made of light material permittingease of handling and the construction of a building with a minimum amount of labor and with little need 'for hoists, derricks, and the like, while buildings constructed in accordance with this invention'may also be made of fireproof or semi-lireproof materials, when desired. l

The units are adapted to provide insulating air pockets between the inner and outer faces 20,- of walls orrpartitions and to permit the filling of certain parts ofthe walls Vwith cementi-y tions material, such as concrete, or the interposition of structural parts therein to suit an requirement. When constructed of suitab e materialV with concrete vpoured therein,

the units may be combined to form foundations or similar structures, while furthermore these units are adapted to constitute forms for the pouring of concrete columns, girts oi' the like, thus dispensing'with practically all necessity for the erection of temporary wooden forms during the construction of a building having a concrete framework. This type of construction is also readilyl adaptable to combinations with diferent'types of reinforcing means such as metal bars or rods.

Inone aspect this invention consists of the provision of formative units which may constitute the basic outlineA for the walls of aA building, such as the'side walls, partitions,

foundations, floors or flat or inclined roofs.

Usually these formative units will be jlightV forms designed to outline walls andr not to afford structural support, but incertain cases they may be incorporated in an assembly to form a structural componentof a build- 1 ing or the like, thus performing a function commonly asfsociatedwith the framework.

Another aspect of this inventionv concerns the aligning and spacing of these units and V2, 1925. Serial No. 72,678.

ilar

compositions, cementitious material such as gypsum or Portland cement, fibrous, discrete or granular materials combined with cementitious material, such as straw-board, chip-board, or such as the combination of sand, cinders, etc., with cementitious niaterial, or.other combinations of these and other. suitableV materials.

The covering means 'for the units may be likewise produced of a wide variety of materials such as metal,

wood,iibrous materials of all sorts, cementitious material such as Vstucco or gypsum,ror hey may be made of clay, or straw-board, chip-board or celoteX, or they may be light concrete slabs vformed of a. combination of any suitable materials. These units are preferably preformed 4and are of standardized sizes, the formative units `usually being of a length corresponding to some dimension of a room or building such as theheight of a story, but if desired they may be cut to suit individual installations.

Many other'objects and `advantages of this invention will also be apparent to those skilled in the art upon a reading of the speciing drawings.

` Inthe drawings:Y

tions of adjoining wallsof fication in conjunction `with the` accompany- Fig. l is a horizontal section through pora building;

Fig. 2 is a detail perspective; f

Y F ig. 3 is ardetail section;

of wall construction j Fig l is a perspective view `of one form Fig. 5 is a similar View of a slightly .different construction;

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic side elevation lOl) Fig. 7 is a horizontal section of a. modified form of wall;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 2 of another embodiment of the invention;

F ig. 9 is a detail perspective of the top of a wall assembly;

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 1 ofa different form of the invention;

Fig. 11 is a section through portions of a side wall and floor;

Fig. 12 is a broken perspective view of a wall assembly with parts removed;

Figs. 13 and 14 are perspective views of details of construction;

Fig. 15 is detail perspective view similar to Fig. 9 showing another form of my invention;

F 16 is a detail sectional view;

F ig. 17 is a detail view of a wall assembly;

Fig. 18 is a vertical section of a wall construction g Fin'. 19 is an enlarged section on line 19-19 of Fig. 18

Fig. 2O is a vertical section of an optional wall construction; i

Fig. 21 is a horizontal section of a modified wall assembly;

Fig. 22 is an enlarged section on line 22-22 of Fig. 21

Fig. 23 is a view similar to Fig. 11 of another type of construction;

Figs. 24 and 25 are vertical sectionsof floor constructions; and

Fig. 26 is a. view of an optional wall construction.

ln accordance with the preferred embodiment of my invention a strip t, having` cylindrical projections 3 formed thereupon in closely juxtaposed position is inset in, or secured upon the upper surface of a foundation 2 of a building. T o form a wall upon the foundation 2 upright I-beams 5, or other members preferably suitable for reinforcing concrete columns, are located at the ends of the proposed wall or at its intersections with other walls. Brackets 7 are secured to the tops of the uprights 5 and are adapted to support temporarily a ranger 8 having juxtaposed frusto-conical members 9 thereupon which correspond to the members 3 inset in the upper surface'of the foundation, but may have a greater depth. The members 8 and 9 may be made of any suitable material, but preferably of some light substance; such as paper-board, thin sheet metal or the like. Hollow tubular units 1 made of any suitable substance but preferably of a light composition7 such as paper-board, straw-board, chip-board, or the like, have their lower ends slipped over the juxtaposed cylindrical portions 3 projecting fromvthe foundation 2. The members 3 may be Vof such a size that they permit the tubular units 1 to rest upon the strip l but prevent them from any substantial movement in a horizontal direction.

The members 1 are therefore assembled upon the foundation in approximate alignment with a truncated member 9 projecting slightly into each of their ends. Brackets 7 which are temporarily attached to the upright metal beams 5 are then removed thus permitting the dropping of the ranger 8 upon the upper ends of the units 1 with the tapered walls of conical portions 9; which engage the interiors of the tubular members7 guiding them into accurate alignment as the ranger 8 is brought downwardly upon the tops of the units. The ranger 8 may form a coverin means for the tops 'of the units 1 and, if desired; have holes 10 therein at intervals to permit the pouring of concrete into certain units to form spaced concrete columns in the structural Walls.

Obviously there are many similar optional means of combining the units, for example temporary wooden struts may Vbe used in place of the I-beams 5 or the like, or suitable uprghts may be located at cach end of the wall and be connected by a horizontal member which may or may not ultimately form areinforcement for a concrete girt along the top of the Wall.V For example pipes, such as disclosed in my copending application No. 36,852, filed J une 13, 1925, may be located in this manner, having the strip 8 temporarily suspended `from the horizontal connecting member or from the uprights as by ropes7 hooks or brackets. In the case of long Walls, uprights 5 may be disposed at suitable intervals therealong rather than only at corners or intersections with partitions or the like.

This system of spacing and aligning the units obviously may be Aused for all sorts of walls such as inclined roofs, flat roofs, floors and the like.

In certain installations it may be found desirable to lift the ranger directly into its assembled position` while in other installations conical projections, truncated or otherwise, may be substituted for the lower pro jections 3. l

Members 1 and their aligning means as so assembled are preferably intended to be priA mary formative means for the construction of walls and are ordinarily not designed to take the place of the structural framework such as is common in building construction, although in certain cases the units may constitute a solid Construction, suitably rein forced by concrete poured into or between the units, to form a strong structural component of a building.

To provide an outside finishing surface or a surface suitable for the application of fin* ishing material7 I may provide the Wall with courses of slabs 15. These slabs may be of a wide variety of materials such as wood, gypsum, paper composition, clay tiling or' similar substances Winch are adaptable for this purpose.

rat

, larly in Fig. 2, which may be of any suitable materiall such as wood or any of the materials previously referred to. These plates 26 are preferably interposed between courses of slabs 15 and may have means 27, such as ribs or the like,`projecting into the margins of adjoining courses of blocks.V Instead of ribs 27, nailsl29 or the like canv be used in conjunction with ribs as shown in Fig. 3, or the slabs may be rabbeted and the plates nailed thereto as shown in Fig. 20. The.

cular recesses 28 to engage the sides of units 1 between which they extend and they preferably havea width lessthan the distance between the outer surfaces of the slabs 15, thus providing recesses between the slabs for the pointing of mortar or the like, thereby permitting the construction of an outer surface resembling a stone wall. Be-

tween the ends of the slabs 15 suitable filler strips 31 may be interposed to provide similar recesses. If desired, the ends of slabs 15 may be grooved to engage ribs on strips 31 or on vertical connecting plates 26av (Figs. 16 and 17), the ends of which form means for the pointing of mortar and the body portions of which extend between adjoining units 1.

ln certain cases it may be Adesirable to dispose standardized metal members 71, or the like, vertically between plates 26, (Figs. 18

and 19)V thereby accurately locating the latter between courses of slabs and also constituting means for providing recesses at the ends of the slabs 15 for the interposition of mortar. lllembers 71 preferably extend between midportions of plates 26 and are in substantially abutting relation with the inner surfaces of slabs 15. rllheir ends may be secured to the .f plat-es in any desired manner and, as shown,

have` the iiange portions 72 secured by bolts 3 to plates 2 ln'some instances one or both edges of the i plates 26 may have prongs 35 formed thereon to project beyond the wall. surfaces vand to be bent overas `shown in Fig. 8, providing additional means for the attachmentof'finish ing materials such as plaster or stucco 37. Such an arrangement is advantageous with f plates and slabs of liber board or similar ma* V terial. f

ln constructing abuilding, I prefergto omit tubular units 1 at the corners but have the Y extensions of blocks constitutea lform to gether with the units 1 at the ends lof the,

walls,vthus permitting the pouring of'cementitious material, such as concrete, around the .l-beam, and thereby vforming a .reinforced concrete column at the corners ofthe building (F 1).` At these corner.` vspaces between courses of bloclrs 15 may be filled by L-shaped brackets v29 serving to secure the blocks in place, and whenv necessary additional reinforcing means may be applied.

The outer layer of slabs 15 may be extended upwardly to constitute a form for the outside of a cement girt 19 in a similar manner. Platos 26 may be omitted adjoining the girt course of slabs, for example the overlapping edges of rangers 8 may ce secured to the slabs and provide recesses for the interposition of mortar. Any temgjforary means may be u-sed to hold thetops of the girt .slabs 15 in place while the girt 19 is being formed. The concrete for the andthe vertical columns may be poured in one operation, thus forming a monolithic structure, if desired, while the girt member may be combined in a wide variety of ways with diilerent floor constructions, such `in this type of construction.

lf it is desired to add another story above girt 19, a ribbed plate 311 is disposed thereupon with the cylindrical projections 3. This plate may be secured to themargins of slabs 15 in a manner similar to that of the plate 8 previously described.

vViThenever it is desired to fit door or window frames into the wall, this construction readily permits the fitting of bucks 32 between the slabs 15 to define the opening for such a frame, as shown in Fig. 1.

A desirable optional arrangement is shown in Figures 21 and 22, wherein the spacing members 92 are disposed between each of the tubular lunits V1 and have the projections 93 at their ends engaging plates 26. By the use of these spacing members 92 the .structural wall may be divided longitudinally into two parts, either of which may be lilled with cementitious material 911, if desired, or left unlled to provide an insulating space, while in certainV cases portions of the plates 26 may be broken away, or holes made therein, to permit the location of the heating pipes orthe circulation of air through these portions of the structural wall. With such arrangements it may be desirable to form openings in the slabs 15 upon the inner4 side of the wall toY permitthe circulation of air for heating or ventilation. 1

. In other caseshowever, tubular units 1 may be used for heatingfor ventilating'purposes, heating units may be disposed therein or the members themselves may be used as ducts for heated or unheated air, apertures being formed in the'slabs'l, or certain of these slabs being pivotally mounted, to permitV air circulation aboutth-e units and into the rooms.

.Instead of connecting slabs 15 by plates 26, I may use staples 16, shown more particularly in Figs. 10, 13 and 14, which may be of many different forms. As shown each staple 16 has a shank portion 17 adapted to eXtend between the units 1 and has portions 18 disposed at right angl-es to its ends which are adapted to project into the marginal portions of rows of courses of slabs. 1n the case of the .slabs of wood or librous material the ends of por-tiens 18 are preferably pointed and forced in the slabs, while in the case of les or cementitious materials the projections may be lunt and holes may b-e made at intervals in the margins of the slabs to engage therewith. Staples 16 are more particularly designed to engage between courses of slabs 15 although they may be also located between the ends thereof.

A s shown in Fig. 26, slabs 75 may be provided in a similar type of construction, being recessed at 76 to engage around a substantial portion of the units butleaving a narrow space 77 between the inner and outer slabs suitable for insulation or the interposition of cementitious material 78. As in the case of the slabs previously described, any suitable fastening means may be used for slabs 75, such as the tie staples 16, as shown. lVith this type of construction the units 1 may be made of a very light material, such as paper, and, if desired, certain of these units may be filled with concrete or the like, to strengthen the wall structure. This construction is suitable for foundations as well as walls, floors, and roofs.

Obviously these forms of construction may be adapted to many other installations and different embodiments; for example, inclined walls such as those forming the surfaces of pitched roofs or horizontal walls such as those constituting' floors or liat roofs may be constructed according to the principles described above. The slabs 15 may form the interior linish upon the walls or ceilings or provide a surface for roofing material, flooring or the like. The principles of this invention may be combined with many conventional modes of construction well known in the art, or with building constructions or units such as disclosed in my application No.

33,173, filed September 12, 1925, or in my applications Nos. 72,673 and 72,67 4, filed on even date herewith now matured into Patents Nos. 1,671,462 and 1,693,742, respectively. The essential principles of this invention may be varied to suit individual conditions and the preferences of particular builders, for VeX- ample, as shown in Fig. 14, the blocks 15 may be recessed to permit the interposition of mortar or similar material. In such an embodi- -ment of my invention (Fig 14), the ends of the blocks are preferably bevelled to provide recesses 39, the staples 16 having their ends 18 projecting into tne recessed portion of the blocks and affording advantageous means vfor `pointing the mortar 21.

Rather than having 'continuous rangers 8 provided with truste-cones 9, if desired, the cones may be ofconventional `form with an apex, certain cones being truncated to permit the pouring of cementitious material in vCertain tubular `units 1. More particularly in cases of heavy construction *when the units 1 may be of wrought iron or the like, it may be found desirable to provide a ranger 48 (Fig. 15) with openings 49 adapted to receive truncated conical members 50, which may be dis- `oosed therein individually as each unit 1 has its upper end brought into place.

Instead of having conical members 9, it may be desirable to provide elongate key members 36 (Fig. 14) `such-as described in my copending application Serial No. 7 2,674, filed on even fdate herewith -now matured into Patent 1,693,742, but to taper the key members and engaging slots to permit a rapid assembly of the parts.

1n another way of aligning the units which may be used adjoining a girt member or in anyanalogous position, aligning members 86, which may be tubular, are provided with the shoulders 87 to engage the upper ends of the lower units and the lower ends of the upper unit-s and also have portions 88 projecting into these parts of the units to form aligning means for the same. "Wit-h such an arrangement a girt 19 may be formed about the tubular aligning members 86, which telescope with the wall units.

ln certain cases it may be desirable to apply slabs 40rto tubular units in various other ways, for instance as by nailing them, or as disclosed in Figs. 4, 5 and 7. For example units 42 may have four radial flanges 43 thereon, pairs of which are joined vto the similar members upon adjacent units at either side by strips 46, the other pairs of which engage the edges of elongate vertically arranged blocks or slabs 40 With flash strips 44 covering the joints.

Fig. 5 illustrates a somewhat similar construction, wherein the units 65 may be formed of fiber-board, or the like bound by an inner layer 69 of cementitious material such as gypsum or the like. Adjoining flanges 67 of these members may be clamped together by strips 66 of resilient metal which are resiliently engaged with the `flanges. Slabs 61 may be held in place by the T-shaped strips 62 which have wedge-shaped portions 63 driven between the laminations of flanges 67 of units 65, thereby forcing these flanges into gripping relation with the edges of slabs 61, disposed between flanges 67 of adjoining units, in the manner described with reference to Fig. 4.

lElongate slabs 55 (Fig. 7) may be joined in pairs by connecting rods 52 pivotally or otherwise secured to their mid-portions. A wall may 4then be assembled by erecting a unit 1,placing slabs v55 at either side thereof with the rod 52 at one side of the unit, then apply another unit 1 at thek opposite side of rod 52,

and so on, assembling units and pairs of slabsalternately withrods 52 extending between the units.

Floor constructions may also be provided having' an arrangement of parts somewhat resembling that illustrated in F ig. 4, for example floor units `8l may be provided. with the flanges or nubs 82, (F ig. 24) which extend between ceiling planks 83, or the like, at the lower portions of the units, and which at either side of each of the units are in substantially abutting relation with similar nubs upon adjoining units. Disposed upon the upper portion of plank 83 is a metal fastening member 84 which may be of T-section, with a portion 85 inserted between adjoining nubs 82 and with portions of its upper margin bent over in opposite directions to hold the plank 83 in place and to engage with concrete 86 poured between the units 81, if de sired. A somewhat similar arrangement isY illustrated in Fig. 25, wherein the planks 83 are provided with upwardly disposed fastening members 89 of wood, or the like, and the spikes 90 are driven through the nubs of adjoining units 81 with their ends projecting into member 89 and with their heads engaged by the concrete 86 Nith constructions of the type illustrated in Figures 24 and 25, any conventional ceiling finish may be applied to the planks 83, when desired, while flooring may be secured directly upon the upwardly disposed nubs of units 81 or a layer of concrete may cover the same.

I claim: v

l. In a building construction a structural wall or the like, formed about a series of closely spaced columnar units and having a series of slabs disposed upon opposite sides of the units with connecting members secured to the marginal portions of slabs upon opposite sides of the units and extending into 5 the spaces between the units.

2. In a building construction a structural wall or the like, formed' about a series of closely spaced columnar units and having a series of slabs disposed adjacent one side of the units with connecting means between the edges of adjacent slabs tying themv into a continuous layer defining a surface for the structural wall, said connecting means also securing the slabs to the units.

3. In a building construction a structural wall or the like, having two layers of slabs at its opposite sides, which define the struc tural wall, and having plates connecting the ends of pairs of slabs in one layer with pairs of slabs in the other layer, said plates including body portions extending between adj oining slabs and having means at its ends inten fitting with the marginal portions of the same.

4, In a building construction a structural wall, or the like, formed aboutjuxtaposed columnar units and having'a layer of slabs at either side of the units, and plates connecting slabs in one layer with the other lay- Y er, each plate having a body portion recessed to engage columnar units and its ends secured to slabs in the opposite layers.

5. In a building` construction a structural wall or the like, having two layers of slabs n defining the opposite faces of the wall, con- `wall or the like formed about juxtaposedcolumnar units and having a layer of slabs. at either side of the units, and plates connecting slabs in one layer with slabs in the other layer, each plate having a body portion rec essed to engage the columnar units and having ends extending between adjoining courses of slabs.

7. In a building construction intersecting structural walls formedv about a series of closely spaced columnar units, slabs disposed upon opposite sides of the units, said slabs beingextended to cooperate with adjoining units to enclose a space ,at the intersection of the walls to provide a form for a concrete frame member.

8.V In a buildingconstruction intersecting structural walls or the likeformed about series of closely spaced columnar units, slabs disposed upon opposite sidesfof the units, said slabs being extended to cooperate with adjoining units to enclose a space at the intersection o-f the walls to provide a form for a concrete frame member and a metal memu ber disposed within said space to provide a reinforcement for the same.

9. In abuilding construction a structural wall formed about a series of closely spaced columnar units with ends engaged with frustoconical means projecting from an adjacent frame member, and a series of slabs disposed upon opposite sides of the units to define the outer faces of the structural wall or the like.

10. In a building construction including a frame member and a series of closely spaced columnar units, frusto-conical elements projecting from an adjacent frame member into ends of the tubular units thereby holding the units in alignment' and tying them to the structural framework.

11. In a building constructiomincluding a frame member and a series of juxtaposed columnar units, tapered means projecting from an adjacent frame member into the tubular units tohold them in alignment.

12; In a buildingconstruction including a frame member .and4 a series of closely spaced columnar-units, tapered means proj jecting from the frame member to hold the units in spaced position.,

13. A. method of building construction characterized by the assembly of juxtaposed columnar' units and comprising the provision of aligning means upon a base, the engaging of the lower ends of columnar units with the aligning means to bring them into substantial alignment, disposing tapered aligning means adjacent the other ends of the units, moving one of the aligning means towards the other, thereby guiding the units into accurate alignment.

14. A method of building construction characterized by the assembly of juxtaposed columnar units and comprising the provision of aligning means upon a base, engaging the endsof a series of columnar units with the aligning means, thereby bringing them` into substantial alignment and spaced position, suspending tapered aligning and spacing means from upright. members, said last named means beingy disposedabove the upper ends ofthe columnar units, disconnecting the last named aligning and spacing means from the upright members to permitV thetapered aligning means to be brought into close engaging relation with the upper endsof the units with the assistance of gravity, thereby drawing the units into accurate alignment, placingV blocks at the sidesA of the units with portions of said blocks extending beyond said unitsto provide a form for the pouring of concrete trame members with reinforcing means therein formed. by the aforesaid upright members thereby forming a wall with reinforced concreteV frame members.

15.4 In a building construction a structural wall or the like, formed about a series of closely spaced columnar units with av layer of blocks at either side, means extending from one layer of blocks to the other between the units and having portions projecting part way between oining courses of blocks to permit the pointing of mortar disposed between the blocks.

16. A building construction comprising adjoining wall portions meeting at a corner, a row of closely spaced columnar units in each of the Wall sections, layers of slabs disposed upon the Opposite sides of the rows of units, the slabs being extended toienclose the space at the corner and the rows of units terminating adjoiningthe corner, whereby the slabsy and the end unit of each now cooperate in; enclosing a space to provideI a. form for a concrete Jframe member at the'corner of the wall` sections.

17. A building construction comprising awall, a layer ofV slabs defining one face of the wall, connecting elements in interlitting engagement with edge portions of adjoining courses of slabs, said elements cooperating with the edge portions of the slabs: in

providing grooves for the reception of mortar.

Signed by me at Boston, Massachusetts, this 2nd day of November, 1925.

ALBERT F. BEMIS. 

